The Revelation
by thenameisdenise
Summary: The 12th Precinct's team reach the mansion and find dead bodies all over. The team has to solve the murder of the political adviser. Meanwhile, their friend Sam is fighting for life.
1. Chapter 1

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you for reading my first Castle fanfiction. This is now the second story/episode. Hopefully, you like this just as The Secret. Please review.**_

_**Also, if you noticed, I use the British spellings, even though I'm not, because I'm used to it and other British terms. I try very hard not to use those terms like bonnet for hood of a car, telly for television, series for season. If I do, please tell me. :)**_

_**If you've also seen the spoilers for 622, and the rumours about the body, please know that I know nothing about it. This is my own story. I killed Vulcan Simmons out of spite of what he did to Beckett in 617.**_

* * *

The Beechhurst PD arrived at the mansion before Castle and Beckett and their team so the driveway was already full of cops when they did. Beckett was out of the car even before setting it to park that Castle crossed over her seat and stepped on the brakes.

"Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD," she said to the nearest officer, flashing her badge. "We have an undercover civilian inside and we need to see her."

"Detective, I'm afraid I can't," the officer told her. "Please wait outside."

"You don't understand..." Beckett said.

"Kate," Castle said quietly, arms around her waist, turning her away from the scene. "Let them."

They stayed with Ryan and Esposito whilst Gates talked to the Captain of the department. Worry was written in all of their faces.

A few minutes later, gurneys were brought out of the house. A couple or so have bodies in them completely covered in blankets. One was of a man, conscious but obviously hurt.

"Sam!" Beckett exclaimed as they brought out the last gurney.

They ran to their friend and saw that her middle was covered in blood. She was shot.

"I need to be with her," Beckett begged the EMT. "Please."

The EMT saw the desperation in Beckett's eyes that he allowed her and Castle, to ride with them on the way to the hospital.

* * *

Ryan and Esposito remained at the mansion whilst Castle and Beckett rode in the ambulance to be with Sam. They already told Gates that Sam had been shot and that she also managed to stab her killer with her sword. Gates then told them to coordinate with the Beechhurst police for the list of the people who are dead and for Sam's shooter.

Another gurney was being brought out of the mansion so they approached the officer who accompanied the EMT.

"I'm Detective Esposito and this is Detective Ryan," Espo began, flashing their badges. "May I ask who this body belongs to?"

The officer looked at his notepad and looked back at them. "Hm...Vulcan Simmons. Notorious drug lord, he is. Finally someone managed to stop him." Then he returned to his unit whilst the EMT hauled Simmons' body into the ambulance.

Both Espo and Ryan were stunned and looked at each other. They knew that Gates said she heard what happened but they didn't believe that Simmons is actually dead. He's a man of many ways that maybe he's not dead at all, that it was all a ploy.

"Do you think…?" Espo said.

"Sam really did it?" Ryan asked. "Oh yeah."

When no one else can defeat the drug lord, Sam managed. They can't believe that she did.

"For that," Espo said. "I think she deserves something. Like a medal."

"Yeah," Ryan agreed. "I just hope she'll pull through."

* * *

She could hear her name being shouted but she can't make out the words. All she could feel was extreme pain. And she was moving, fast. Her thoughts are in disarray. What happened? She doesn't understand and she doesn't remember. There's just pain.

"Sam, hang in there," a female voice said. It sounded familiar but she couldn't place where she heard it.

"Daddy," she whispered again. "I want my dad."

"He'll be here," another familiar voice said, male this time.

She smiled and passed out.

* * *

"Where's my daughter?" a voice called out in the hospital corridor. "Where's my daughter?"

Senator Bracken and his wife had arrived as fast as they could. Detective Beckett had called and told them that Sam was shot and that they didn't know the extent of the damage. He saw Beckett and Castle outside the operating room.

"Where is she?" the Senator asked, grabbing Beckett by the shoulder. "Where's my Diana?"

Beckett was at a loss for words. This must be how her father felt when she herself was in surgery almost three years ago, after being shot by a sniper hired by the man before her.

"Senator," she began, but still cannot bring out the words.

"Bill," Sheila murmured, her hands gently put on her husband's shoulders he let go of Beckett.

Beckett looked at Castle for help but he too seemed speechless. The writer in him was thinking the worst of the worst scenarios.

"Senator," Beckett said again. "She's in surgery. We don't know how long it will take."

Sheila guided the Senator to the nearest chair. He sat down and he buried his face in his hands. When he managed to arrange his thoughts, he lifted his head and looked at Kate.

"You said she's going to be alright!" he exclaimed. "You said she's going to be safe!"

"Bill," Sheila said again, comforting her husband. "There is no one to blame here. The person to blame is the one who did this to her. Not them." She gestured towards Castle and Beckett.

"Senator," Beckett tried again. "We tried. She turned off her com device before she went on that meeting. She must have accidentally turned it on again. We did what we could."

Sheila smiled at her. "Thank you for all you've done, Detective."

Kate smiled back at her and continued to fiddle with the gloves she's holding. She turned to Castle and she nestled her head at the crook of his neck.

"Castle," she whispered.

"It's alright, Kate," he reassured her.

He led her to the other end of the corridor, away from the Brackens to give them privacy. When they reached the corner, Kate just burst into tears. Castle hugged her tighter, trying to comfort her. He hasn't seen her cry this way, not since she had to shoot Dick Coonan.

"It's not your fault," he said. "You've done everything you could."

"Rick," she lifted her head and looked at him in the eye. "I promised that I will keep her safe. And now she's here. She's shot."

"Shh," he replied. "She'll be fine. She's our strong Sam."

Beckett smiled at him and put her head back at the crook of his neck. She wished what he said is true.

"She asked for him."

* * *

At the operating theatre, Doctor Sheppard and the others are actively trying to stop the bleeding from Sam's abdomen.

"Single GSW on the torso," the EMT who wheeled in Sam said. "Point-blank."

"Her stomach must have been hit," Doctor Sheppard said. "She's bleeding profusely. She might need blood transfusion. Go check if they have available stock."

One of his nurses nodded and walked out the door.

"Doc," another nurse said. "Senator Bracken and his wife are here."

"What?" Dr Sheppard asked. "Why?"

"They said that that's her daughter," the nurse said.

"He doesn't have a daughter," Sheppard said.

"They said she is," the nurse repeated. "She's the first-born."

Sheppard looked at her and looked back at his patient. If she was indeed the Senator's daughter then they need to save her.

"Give me the scissors," Sheppard commanded to another nurse. "Let's see if we can find where she's bleeding from."

Just then, the girl's body began convulsing. They tried to stop it, doing everything they could. A few moments later, she stopped and a continuous tone was heard from the electrocardiogram machine.

* * *

Ryan and Esposito were on their way back to the precinct after an hour of sweeping the mansion. Gates didn't come along with them and remained with the Beechhurst PD. They haven't heard from Beckett and Castle yet so they assumed that they're still with Sam. Their silence were only broken by Javier's phone.

"Hey Espo!" Karpowski exclaimed. "That guy they pulled out of that Beechhurst mansion. Well one of the guys. He's conscious and awake."

"Cool," Espo said. "Which guy?"

"His name is Garcia," Karpowski replied. "Efren Garcia."

"Garcia's alive," he told his partner.

Ryan nodded and prepared to turn around.

"Where is he?" Espo asked.

Karpowski told him and Ryan made a U-turn.

* * *

It has been a couple of hours since they arrived at the hospital and the doctor treating Sam hasn't come out yet. Bracken and his wife were seated at the chairs outside the operating room; Castle and Beckett were seated opposite them, Castle still hugging her, one of his hands stroking her hair. Beckett had already called for uniformed officers to wait outside. A few minutes later, Dr Sheppard came out.

"Senator," Sheppard said when he saw him.

"Doc," Bracken said, standing up. "How is she?"

Sheppard looked at him intently. "Senator, we did everything we could."

"Are you saying…."

"She suffered a seizure due to shock. We managed to revive her but the injury she sustained is worse than we expected," Sheppard explained. "Her stomach was perforated due to being shot point-blank. When she had the seizure, her right lung had collapsed."

Bracken's face fell and tears just fell down his cheeks.

"My Princess," he whispered, clutching Sheila's hands. "Can I see her?"

"She will be brought to the ICU in a while," Sheppard continued. "She's unconscious and she's not responding to any test. We'll be monitoring her progress in the next day or two but I'm afraid she's in a coma."

Sheila hugged her husband tight and thanked the doctor.

* * *

Castle and Beckett stood there, taking in what Doctor Sheppard said. He acknowledged them as he walked away.

They watched the Senator cry silently in anguish, not knowing what to do, confused as their nemesis sat there, a father grieving for his daughter.

* * *

_**By the way, thank you to the Guest who reviewed the last story. I guess you're from Tumblr since it's where I posted the link unless you're a Facebook friend. As you can see, if you read until the last chapter, Sam is just a human being, not a superwoman. She's much like The Bride in Kill Bill. She's not infallible.**_

_**Expect the unexpected. ;)**_

_**Also, don't expect me to update this as frequently as before. I did have the other chapters written but there are still more tweaking and such to do. My muse has taken a vacation so until then... :) And I'm taking this from end to the last chapter I need to perfect, as I know the ending I want. Meanwhile, enjoy!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for posting this now. I'm kind of having a writers' block on this case (since it differs and kind of complicated from what we've seen. That and because I've seen 622.) and I've enlisted help from a friend who has studied law. I've already wrote my ending on this long before and I'm not going to change it to reflect what happened in the past season.**_

_**We see here the case from the last story going forward. I know it's kind of a long time coming but as they don't have many leads, except for the kid, it's pretty much stagnant. But since they already got to mansion, it's time for the case to move.**_

* * *

Ryan and Espo went to the hospital where Efren Garcia was admitted. There were two police guards on duty outside his room. They showed them their badges and was allowed to enter the room.

Garcia was conscious. He had a heart monitor on but they could see he is going to be alright for questioning.

"Mr Garcia," Espo said moving beside their suspect and introducing themselves. "I'm Detective Esposito and this is Detective Ryan. We're with the NYPD. We'd like to question you about what happened tonight."

Garcia looked at them and turned his face to the other side. "Go away."

The detectives looked at each other.

"I'm afraid we can't," Ryan said. "You were in that mansion. You were with Vulcan Simmons."

"I said go away!" Garcia yelled.

"Chill out, man!" Espo said. "We're just here to ask a few questions."

"I don't want to answer any questions," Garcia looked back at them. "I have nothing to say."

A nurse poked her head inside the room checking in if everything was alright. When they assured her it was, Ryan and Espo walked out of the room, with Espo telling the guards to watch out for him.

"Does he seem really guilty to you?" Ryan asked.

"Super guilty is more like it," his friend answered. "Maybe when he gets out he can answer our questions but right now we can't get anything out of him. Come on, let's go back to the precinct. Maybe Castle and Beckett are back and have some new leads."

* * *

Instead of heading back to the precinct, Beckett and Castle opted to go back to the loft. Martha was there when they arrived and seeing their state, opted not to ask them any questions but instead invite them for a late, light snack.

Half an hour later, once they were settled in bed, Beckett looked at Castle and, for the first time in a while, broke down. Castle wrapped his arms around her until she fell asleep in his arms and he too fell asleep.

* * *

They came in the precinct a bit later than usual. Beckett took a peek at the murder board, grabbed her cup on her desk, and they headed to the break room. Ryan and Espo were already there.

"Hey!" Ryan greeted them.

"Hey," Beckett responded.

Castle gave a small wave.

"We were expecting new leads last night," Espo said. "But you didn't come in."

"Yeah," Beckett said, stirring her tea. "We went straight home."

The guys know that something was bothering her and looked at her fiance. He gently shook his head so that she won't notice.

"Kate," Esposito said gently. "Something happened?"

Beckett looked at him, surprised at first and then she realised that she was probably looking out into space.

"Oh, I'm fine."

"You're not," Espo prodded. "You can tell us. Is it about Sam?"

Beckett went and sat beside Castle at the table and nodded. "Yes. She's in a coma."

"Sorry," Ryan said.

"About what?"

"We asked."

"Oh no. No," Kate said reassuringly. "It's not that."

She looked at Castle, hoping that he has the courage to voice whatever she is feeling right now. Thankfully, he caught up on what she wanted.

"It's Bracken," he said.

The boys looked surprised so Castle continued.

"We saw him break down," he said. "It's like he didn't know what to do."

"What did the doctor say about Sam?" Espo asked.

"Due to being shot point-blank," Kate said. "Her stomach was perforated and while being operated, she had a shock and her right lung collapsed causing her to go into a coma."

She sipped her tea and continued. "They're going to monitor her for next 48 hours."

"It's like karma for Bracken," Espo remarked. "For all the things he did, especially you."

He pointed at Beckett.

Castle and Beckett looked at each other. They know that they had told Bracken it wasn't karma. They don't like to think so because Sam, strong as she was, is stubborn and they won't be able to stop her anyway. And it was Castle who told Esposito this.

"He seemed to think so too," he said. "Before, just after Sam went in. You know her personality. She's stubborn as hell. She'll be there whether or not she's Bracken's daughter. But her being his daughter, she was just out to prove to him, to make him see, that he was wrong. That everything he has now, could have been done using the right path."

"Would he have done it, seeing as he was ADA during that time," Espo continued.

"We believe so," Castle said. "And Sam would still be with him and everything will be fine."

"Unless, he can be corrupted, like what he is now," Ryan said.

"But whatever is happening now," Beckett said. "We cannot treat it as punishment for him."

They looked at her.

"As much as I like to take him down for my mother's murder," she continued. "He is still a father. Right now, we treat him as one. We do not know what will happen in the next hour, in the next day. Right now, we need to solve this case. To help him. And Sam."

* * *

"We went to the hospital where Garcia was," Espo said.

They were all back in the bullpen by the murder board. Beckett had asked them if they got any leads from the mansion after they left in the ambulance.

"The problem is that he doesn't want to talk," Ryan explained. "We tried very hard to ask him but to no avail. He's not ratting out Simmons even though he knows that Sam killed him."

Beckett rubbed her forehead in frustration.

"Do you have anything on the people they made her kill?" she asked.

"Not yet," Ryan said. "The Beechhurst police said it happened in Whitestone and they are coordinating with the 109th for the cases. Gates is also coordinating with them so hopefully we'll have the names by noon."

"So all we have now is Dimitriev," Beckett said. "What does a college kid good with computers have to do with any of these?"

"He's right in saying he's not a hacker," Espo said. "I checked his computer files and there's nothing there that says he is. He's a computer science student at CUNY in Queens."

"Wait, you said computer science," Ryan remarked. "Computer science also deals with making a program like in Windows."

"You're right," Beckett said. "It could be a start. Ask Dimitriev again if he was making a website or making a program unrelated to school and if he was being paid for it."

"On it," Espo said. "Come on, bro."

* * *

"Yeah, yeah, actually," Valeri Dimitriev said. "I was making a website for someone and they said that it was top secret."

Esposito and Ryan arrived at CUNY Queens half an hour later and looked for Dimitriev. Luckily, he had classes for the day and when they arrived, he was taking a break.

"Do you know any name or if someone introduced themselves to you when they asked?" Ryan said.

"No. Not really. Just an email that said they needed my services."

"What is the name of the website that you're working on?" Esposito asked.

"I don't really know because they didn't give me a finite name. All I know was that it was for something environmental."

Ryan and Espo looked at each other. They know of one person who has a campaign for the environment and was connected to their case.

"That's all I can remember. I'm sorry if it wasn't that helpful," Dimitriev said.

"It's alright," Ryan said. "I think we got what we needed. In the meantime, we need you to send us the emails that were sent to you."

They thanked the student and started walking back to their unit. Espo was already on the phone.

"Beckett. We got something for you."

* * *

"Ryan James," Gates said, giving a picture to Beckett.

She received the names of the assassination victims half an hour ago and had asked Detective Carver to search the database for pictures.

"He's...Sam's first victim."

She hesitated to add Sam's name but she knows she has to. Captain Victoria Gates knows that Sam may be a friend to them but she still violated the law. She knows that the girl, if everything went right, would have tried to run away and be branded as a fugitive. Gates knows that she will be looking for her, to bring justice. She knows her law and she abides by it.

"He was a lawyer, works in a small firm, does pro bono. He has a sister in Jersey and I talked to her. She said that she doesn't know anything that he did that would have gotten him killed. He didn't care much about the money that's why he did what he did."

"If he got involved in Vulcan Simmons' group..." Beckett said.

"He must have had a financial problem," Gates finished for her.

"He must have been recruited, the same way they recruit these contract killers," Castle offered. "They must have known he was doing pro bono and obviously didn't earn much."

"Probably," Beckett agreed. "I'll look at his financials, bank accounts and statements. I'll see if something has changed for the past six months."

"I agree," Gates said. "This is the other lawyer, Natasha Bradley."

She gave another picture to Beckett.

"She was a criminal lawyer and worked for the DA's office. She was the lawyer of Fernando Jones so she knew who he was."

"So it was him who had asked for this woman to be killed?" asked Beckett.

"Possibly, but due to the nature of her job, Simmons' must have also crossed paths with her before. She used to be a lawyer to members of the drug cartel families. She was on a break hence she was in her house. She was single, no known boyfriend at the moment. Her family lives in Portland and they said the same as James' sister. No reason why she would be killed and she didn't have any financial problems and from the looks of it, she certainly didn't."

"Sir, didn't she live in a bungalow?" Beckett enquired.

"Yes, but not because she's having a problem. She transferred in that house after she moved out of her previous boyfriend's home, three years ago. At least that's what her family said."

Beckett nodded.

Gates pulled the last picture out of the folder.

"This is Josie Miller. She is the last victim. She was a Wall Street investment advisor."

"Let me see," Castle interjected. "No known boyfriend or any relationship at all and her family lives somewhere in California."

Gates looked at him questioningly. "Close," she said. "Divorced, her two grown up children live in San Obispo, and her husband has remarried and now lives in Europe. How would you know that?"

"They all seem to have families outside of New York," Castle said.

"But that doesn't mean that's what connects them," Beckett explained. "Or why they would be involved in a drug operation."

"That's what we're going to find out," Gates said thoughtfully. "As with James, we need to pull out the financials of the other victims. We need to find why Simmons, Garcia or any member of their operation wanted them dead."

"Yes Sir," Beckett nodded.

Replying with a nod, Gates returned to her office.

"Beckett," Castle said. "We need…"

"...to break Garcia," she finished. "The only question is how."


	3. Chapter 3

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: More on the case and Beckett and Castle visit Sam at the hospital. **_

* * *

Esposito and Ryan got back to the precinct and told Kate what Dimitriev had told them. They both checked if he sent in the email correspondence and Espo gave it to Tory to see if she can check where they originated from. It may take a while so he helped Ryan get the financials of the victims that Beckett handed over. She said that she and Castle want to visit Sam at the hospital to check on her, if there is any progress at all but Espo surmised that she wanted to see if Bracken was there. He still didn't believe that it wasn't karma even though he had seen the devastation in Bracken's face when they interviewed him a couple of days ago. But he gave him the benefit of the doubt. Anyway, as both Castle and Beckett said, he is Sam's father. So he started researching on Sam's victims after making himself coffee.

* * *

Castle and Beckett arrived at the hospital and asked the nurses' station what room Efren Garcia is in. They had wanted to ask him why they targeted those victims, wanted to break him. They wanted to try, knowing that they don't have any leverage that will make him want to confess.

Beckett had told Esposito that they will go to Sam, which they will, but she felt like they had to stop over at the hospital where Garcia is and try to interrogate him. He is key to the case, as of now, since he's the only one who survived that night. And the only one awake.

"Mr Garcia," Beckett said when they arrived in his room. "I'm Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. This is my colleague, Mr Castle. We need to ask you a few questions."

"I told you that I don't want to answer your questions!" Garcia shouted. "Nurse!"

"Mr Garcia," Beckett tried again. "Mr Garcia!" More forcefully this time.

Garcia reached over the bell to ring in the nurse but Beckett stopped him.

"We need answers, Mr Garcia," she said, her eyes dark. "You are the only one who can do so. All of your colleagues are dead."

He looked at her then looked at Castle. He knew that he cannot do anything now but to tell them what he knew.

"What do you want to know?" he asked, disdain on his voice.

"Who hired you and why did you ask Ms Rodriguez to kill all those people?"

"Vulcan hired me. We knew each other. He was the one who helped me when I got here. He was my first friend."

"And the victims?" she repeated.

"They were obstructions. Especially that lady lawyer who knew Fernando."

"How were they obstructions?" Castle asked, puzzled.

Garcia looked at him with daggers in his eyes. "They got their noses into other people's business. They would have stopped us in what we were doing."

"And what were you doing?" Beckett asked.

Garcia smirked. "Nothing that you would want to know."

"Oh, I want to know," she told him, smiling slyly. Two can play that game.

Garcia just smiled at her.

"Fine then," she said, walking to the door. "Once you are able, you will be charged of murdering all the victims plus accessory for the murder of Emilio Sanchez, who I assume you also know. You will be deported to the Philippines."

He looked at her with terror.

"No! Please no! Don't send me back to my country!" he shouted at her.

"Then I need you to cooperate," Beckett responded.

"I will! I will! Just don't send me back, please!" he begged. "The operation was for a government official. I don't know who he is but Vulcan knew. But he wanted to turn the tables on him because of what he did a few months back. Vulcan said that this man, Lazarus he called him, had saved someone he thought he had killed."

Castle and Beckett looked at each other. They knew who he was talking about.

"Did, did they he you who this person was?" she asked, knowing quite well who the answer is.

"A detective. He just said that. Vulcan didn't know why Lazarus had saved her but it angered him. He helped this government official for years but he felt betrayed for what he did."

"What's it got to do with Emilio Sanchez?" Castle enquired.

"Vulcan said that he was a trusted confidante of the official, Lazarus," Garcia replied. "He asked me to go to the charity dinner Senator Bracken arranged. That's where I saw this Sanchez talking to Bracken. They were talking about some secret. So I eavesdropped and told Vulcan about what I heard."

"You don't know if Sanchez has any connection to Bracken?" Beckett asked.

"No. I just assumed he was also a political adviser to him. Sanchez had a history with politicians. Vulcan told me to be friendly with Sanchez, since we're both from the same country."

"Then he told you that he wanted ask him a few questions," Beckett continued for him.

"Yes. I knew what he would do to him. He died without giving up whatever secret he had."

Garcia was distraught and was fighting back tears.

"Thank you, Mr Garcia," Beckett said. "That's all we need to know."

As they walked out the door, they could hear him shout, "Will I still be deported? Please no!" that prompted Castle to ask if he will.

"He will still be on trial and that's up to immigration. He's still a Filipino citizen and hasn't taken any action yet on having a dual or full citizenship."

Castle looked at her with those eyes that seem to tell her she was joking. She smiled at him.

"No. He won't. He will probably still serve time in prison for being an accessory to Sanchez's murder."

"So you just told him…."

"To break him. I read about some cases in the Philippines and they don't look good."

* * *

"What do you mean, you can't?" Espo asked Tory.

Ryan and Esposito were in the tech room, checking in on the emails that Dimitriev sent over.

"The sender of the emails is very careful," she told them. "It was bounced back and forth from IP addresses around the world. I can't even get the original address."

"But you're so good," Javi whined.

Tory smiled. "I know but this is baffling me. I can still try to see if you will give me more time."

"Take all the time you need, Tory," Ryan said.

They walked out of the tech room and went into their respective desks. It's like every time they hit a new lead, it stops at a dead end. Both tried to focus on the other victims instead, following up on the financials, since their individual banks said that they will fax a copy of their statements of accounts. A few minutes later, Espo's phone rings.

* * *

Castle looked at Beckett hopefully. "New or no leads?"

They were now driving to the hospital where Sam is.

"They hit a dead end with the emails. For now," she answered. "Tory is still trying to see where they originally came from. They used several IP addresses that made it bounce back and forth around the world."

She sighed and looked at the distance.

"Kate," Castle whispered, trying to make sure that Beckett is alright.

It had been only a day, a few hours, after the incident but she seemed too distracted, too far off. It hadn't happened in a while to her, dismissing the moment a couple of years ago when she suffered PTSD from being shot.

"I'm fine, Castle," she assured him. "I was just thinking about the connection of the victim's to Bracken and Sanchez."

"They still haven't received the financial reports, then?"

"Espo and Ryan said that they're following it up when I called," she said. Then she smiled. "Espo was a bit annoyed, pissed, because we got to break Garcia."

"If there was a bet going on, we won."

Beckett chuckled, but somewhere in that little laugh told Castle that she's still thinking about something.

"We would," she said. "Unfortunately, we still don't know why the other three victims, including our college student."

"I tell you, when we get back," Castle said. "The boys will have something for us."

They reached the hospital and parked nearby. Beckett asked the nurse where the ICU was and they rode the elevator to that floor. They were not surprised to see Sheila Bracken sitting outside the room. She nodded to them as a sign of recognition and told them the Senator was inside.

"Did you go home at all?" asked Castle.

"No," replied Sheila. "He said he wanted to be at her side all the time and if and when she wakes up, he will be the first person she will see. If you want, I can tell him that you're here to visit Diana."

She stood up and went inside.

"Thank you," Castle called. He looked at Beckett and saw that she was hesitant to go see Sam.

"Everything will be alright," he assured her, taking her hand in his. "He's just a father, for now. Just think of it like that."

Beckett smiled at him and squeezed his hand to tell him she understands. Then the door to the ICU opened.

"You can go in now," Sheila said.

* * *

_**For ordinary citizens' cases, yes, the justice system is pretty slow here. Some of the suspected criminals, waiting for a trial, just grow old and die in prison. Some are not even tried and just go directly to jail. There are also children inside these prison walls, as young as 10 years old, for petty crimes such as pickpocketing. For cases involving politics and such, the suspect/s are given the best accommodations, whether or not in prison, as they hurry the case. It's just a sad reality.**_


End file.
